Prayagraj Hosts 5 Million Devotees on Maha Kumbh Mela’s Seventh Day; Geeta Press Camp Fire Extinguished

More than five million pilgrims visited the Maha Kumbh Mela on Sunday, marking the seventh day of the grand event as the celebrations continued.

By 6 PM, over 5.182 million devotees had gathered at the Sangam Triveni, including one million Kalpvasis and 4.182 million pilgrims who took a holy dip. As of January 18, the Maha Kumbh 2025 has seen more than 77.2 million pilgrims perform the sacred ritual at the Sangam Triveni.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted an aerial survey of the Maha Kumbh and visited the Paramarth Niketan Kumbh Mela Camp to attend a ‘Katha’ by Indian spiritual leader Morari Bapu. He was welcomed by Swami Chidanand Saraswati, the spiritual head of Parmarth Niketan Ashram.

“Crores of people are visiting Prayagraj daily just to take a holy dip. Amazingly, 10 lakh people are taking a dip within an hour. The kind of crowd management, event management and safety done here by Yogi ji is amazing,” Saraswati had said earlier, speaking to ANI.

The Chief Minister also met a women’s delegation from Italy, led by Mahi Guruji, founder and trainer of the Meditation and Yoga Center in Italy. The group, who had returned from Prayagraj Maha Kumbh, performed Ramayana, Shiv Tandava, and several bhajans for CM Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma also participated in the festivities by taking a holy dip at Sangam and offering prayers. He visited the reclining Hanuman Ji Maharaj temple for darshan and performed prayers for the well-being of the people.

Taking to X, Sharma shared, “I had the unique privilege of taking a holy dip of faith at the sacred Triveni Sangam in the grand confluence of faith, devotion and unity ‘Mahakumbh-2025’ in Prayagraj. Thereafter, after having the divine darshan of reclining Hanuman Ji Maharaj and worshipping him with full rites, prayers were offered for the happiness, prosperity, auspiciousness and healthy life of all the people of the state.”

In an unexpected incident, a fire broke out at the Gita Press camp in the Mela due to the explosion of three cooking gas cylinders. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to CM Yogi Adityanath to inquire about the situation. Uttar Pradesh Minister AK Sharma stated, “Almost 100 people were there in the shivir but with the blessings of Ma Ganga there has been no causality.”

Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Vivek Chaturvedi confirmed that around 70 to 80 huts and 8 to 10 tents were destroyed in the fire. “Unfortunately, a fire broke out at the Gita Press camp. It is reported that around 70 to 80 huts and eight to 10 tents have been burnt. There are no reports of any casualties. Everyone has been rescued safely. The fire has been extinguished,” he said to ANI.

NDRF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) MK Sharma stated that four teams of the National Disaster Response Force worked together to bring the fire under control.

Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav called for immediate action, posting on X, “The fire that broke out at the Maha Kumbh Mela should be taken cognizance of immediately and seriously and it should be ensured that such an accident does not happen in future.”

The Maha Kumbh, which began on January 13, will continue until February 26.